History

The hospital was opened in the 1930s. Each of the villas housed up to 50 patients but as the years passed the number gradually declined, especially with the advent of “Care In The Community”.
The site has a existing building footprint of 55,576 sq ft complete with its hydrotherapy pool, sensory room and hall. built as part of a £4m revamp in 1994. The pool is the only one of its kind in Southern Derbyshire. It has hoists to help lower people into the temperature-controlled water, and is ideal for keeping severely disabled people’s limbs supple.
Aston Hall has a long history dating back to the early 1600s and was used as a auxiliary hospital in the first World War. The property was sold to Nottingham Corporation in 1924 and has served the community as a specialist hospital for many years.
Plans to close Aston Hall Hospital, in Aston on Trent, which cared for people with learning disabilities, were announced in 1998 amid fierce opposition from locals who wanted a village community to care for the 58 patients already on the site.
As far as I can tell the site closed sometime in 2006 and has since become target somewhat by local youths and people stealing scrap metals. It was disappointing to see even most of the lampposts had even been cut down and sold for scrap.
Anyway on with the pictures…

Aston Hall – Kitchens

Aston Hall – Bath

Aston Hall – Corridor

Aston Hall Hospital

Aston Hall – Residential Block

Aston Hall – Patient room

Aston Hall – Patient plan for the day

Aston Hall – Window

Drug cupboard do not switch off

Aston Hall – Hospital petition

Aston Hall – Pictures on a purple wall

Aston Hall – Service Tunnels

Aston Hall – Erm no idea what this was…

Aston Hall – Basement Crawl Space

Aston Hall – Shiny disco ball in the Hydro Pool

Aston Hall – Hydro Pool Room

Aston Hall – Hydro Pool Bathroom

Aston Hall – Hydro Pool

If you’ve made it this far… thanks for reading / checking out the pictures. Leave me a comment below or hit the like button to let me know you’ve enjoyed the shots and to encourage me to keep posting more 🙂

Limited Edition prints and Canvases, as well as regular prints, are available for all of the images above on request and visit the store for more prints and products.

Comments

i was a patient there back in the ;ate 60s.3yrs of abuse and pure hell.was given a treatment call narco analysis,was only supposed to have accasoinaly i was give it 4 times in one week,you may say a bit heavy for a orphaned 15 yr old,my only crime for being there was i did not want to be in the boys homes,so i kept running away,then finaly they put me into ashton hall,the abuse kept going…..

What Trevor says is true, I was a patient there for almost 4 years – 1965 – 1968. I was in there because I had epilepsy – now reading my medical records the drugs they gave me were way over what they should have been, and the staff were abusive, even to the point of kicking my teeth out. Horrendous place and sheer hell. Treated like a lunatic because I had fits!

I’m really sorry to hear this, it sounds awful. I had no idea before being contacted by you both that such things had taken place. Its starting to sound like it was common practice as well which is even worse. I hope the photos haven’t offended. All the best

Thank you. The photo’s haven’t offended – more people should come forward and let the authorities know what happened to them. I also had the narco analysis – though didn’t realise what it was called till recently. Some very cruel and evil people worked at Aston Hall Hospital. Thankfully I grew out of the epilepsy and have been able to move on with my life. But I’ll never forget.

The “Unknown” object in photo 8 is rectifier. (Used for changing ac to dc current) They had mercury in them and ran quite hot, hence the cooling fan underneath. The dc output from them was used to power high current equipment.

Wow thanks Crazy John you have settled my mind on that one 🙂 I assumed it was something electrical based. I think I recall this being under the stage in the main hall… might explain it since I suspect that would have been a high source of energy consumption.

i was in this place early 70’s..on laburnum ward.. Horrible place was given the treatment as well, told to miss tea by doctor milner was only there 6 months as i finally unscrewed the blocks of the window and absconded caught a few hours later put in the side room with the shutters closed then finally let me go. not home i may add to an approved school think the boys where on beech ward would really like to talk to others about our stay in aston hall as i really believe what was happening to us was illegal

i was in this hellhole when i was 15 i was on labunum ward ,this was where naughty girls were put for to give them what they called treatment by a doctor milner cant go into it as to horrific. when not having treatment we were drugged up so like zombies so please dont make aston hall mental hospital some sort of nice place it was evil i am now 60 years old and still vividly remember this awful place

I was also on laburnum ward and received the horrendous treatment that was given to young girls I am also 60 so must have been there at a similar time to Sue I have terrible memories of the way I was treated and it is a bad memory that will haunt me forever. My crime taking a lipstick from Woolworth.

Hell on earth. l was put there because l ran away from the kids home. which l had reason to do. l remember doctor walker. the place was a nightmere l was 11 years old, l still feel the fear of the place. the treatment….. the scrub the floors wax the floors buff the floors…before breakfast everyday. and THE side room.. it seems l was not soposed to have been given any treatment. my dad wont listen to what happened in that hell hole. we haven’t spoke for years and years because he wont belive me. he says he signed nothing.

I was a patient in this hell hole my crime was running away from home after being denied going to my grandas funeral , i was not mental i was greiving ,and at the age of 14 there was nothing i could do i was still placed in here ,you will never no what us kids went through ,the treatment as it was called, being drugged , mental abuse and possibly sexual abuse , the so called Dr milner and his gang should’ve been burnt to the ground with the building, age 59 now and still this place haunts me the memorys will never go away .